Former Libertines frontman Pete Doherty is auctioning some of his art off this week including some of his blood smeared paintings. Blood often plays a major part of his art practice, and one of his more famous works, Ladylike, includes the blood of the late Amy Winehouse. This piece is expected to fetch between up to £80,000 when it is sold at the Cob Gallery in London this week. Reports today are saying that an undisclosed percentage of this sale will be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which aims to help young people. Would you put a painting with Amy and Pete’s blood on your wall?

“Blood plays the starring role in my work. Sweat and tears are often waiting in the wings,” Doherty said of the auction, referring to his unusual painting style. The musician, who has been trying to make a name for himself as a fine artist, uses a technique he calls “arterial splatter”, in which he squirts his blood from a syringe on to canvas, or cuts a finger and draws with it. The highlight of the sale is likely to be a collaborative painting by Doherty and his friend Amy Winehouse, called Ladylike. It features a small self-portrait scrawled in the late Back to Black singer’s own blood

Pete has had his work exhibited this year in an exhibition called On Blood: A Portrait of the Artist, and a lot of his work sold during that time. Ladylike, the work with Amy Winehouse’s blood however, was not put up her sale then “due to its personal nature”. A few months ago there was drama after Jean Paul Gaultier put on a runway show inspired by Amy Winehouse. Amy’s father, Mitch Winehouse, made public statements about how furious and highly offended he was. I wonder how he is going to react to this then??

Pete’s work is a great example of how conceptual post-modern art is continuing to push the boundaries of what can and should be considered fine art. Personally, I find it highly interesting and would love to have seen this exhibition, but I’m not quite sure if I would hang Amy’s blood over my sofa? Someone evidently will be though, and for a mere £80,000.

Blech! Even wearing a hazmat suit, I wouldn’t go anywhere near his nastiness. Just looking at the items up for auction made me want to go take a shower. Reminds me of Pricasso, an Australian artist who paints portraits with his penis. Pardon the pun, but that, too, gives me the willies.